Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday repudiated Virginia’s plan for becoming carbon-free by 2050 as his administration issued a report calling for continued reliance on natural gas and a “moon shot” effort to ramp up nuclear energy.
See the full story at the Washington Post.
More DMV News
Flood Fund future uncertain as Youngkin pushes for carbon market withdrawal
Virginia Mercury
Over the past two years, Virginia has accumulated over $200 million for flood protection from the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. But the future of that funding pool is in doubt as Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has made it clear he wants to leave the initiative.
Two fully electric school buses on the roads in Frederick this year
Frederick News-Post
The purchases were mostly funded through the district’s portion of the $75.7 million the state of Maryland received through a nationwide settlement with Volkswagen, which paid billions in fines beginning in 2016 for violating the Clean Air Act.
Gas-powered leaf blowers could soon be banned in Montgomery County
Fox 5 DC
Montgomery County Council Chairman Gabe Albornoz – on behalf of County Executive Marc Elrich – submit a new proposal that would ban the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers. Bill 18-22 calls for a program for residents to hand over their gas-powered blowers in exchange for cash to put toward purchasing an electric version.
Amtrak pledges net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045
Washington Post
America’s passenger railroad plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, Amtrak said, joining a growing list of transportation carriers and agencies that have made commitments to reduce their carbon footprints.
National and International News
How climate change is rapidly fueling super hurricanes
Washington Post
Since 2017, an unprecedented number of storms rated Category 4 or stronger have lashed the U.S. shoreline: Harvey, Irma, Maria, Michael, Laura, Ida and now Ian. They all qualify as “rapid intensification events,” when a storm’s wind speeds increase by at least 35 mph within 24 hours.
Electric vehicle charging stations get green light across US
The Guardian
All 50 states have been approved for EV charging stations covering 75,000 miles of highway, the US transportation department announced on Tuesday. The White House has approved plans that will give states access to $1.5bn in federal funding to build the chargers.
Will the Inflation Reduction Act spur clean energy manufacturing in the US? Tax experts say yes.
Utility Drive
The manufacturing production tax credits for wind, solar and battery components built in the U.S. that were included in the Inflation Reduction Act could have a value of up to 18 cents per watt and are likely to spur interest in domestic production of clean energy, tax experts said during the RE+ conference in Anaheim, California last week.
How will residential solar + storage fare in a blackout? Berkeley Lab looks to historical data for insight.
Utility Dive
In 70% of outage events, most homes with a 30 kWh storage system would have been able to maintain critical loads, researchers said.
Amazon Announces 71 New Renewable Energy Projects Globally, Including Firsts in Brazil, India, and Poland
Amazon Press Release
Amazon now has 202 renewable energy projects in North America, 117 in Europe, 57 in Asia and the Pacific, one in the Middle East, one in Africa, and its first project in South America. The total renewable energy projects enabled by Amazon will generate 50,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean energy—or enough to power 4.6 million U.S. homes each year.